Say Thanks to OUR Military with a Day on your Boat

[Daddubo]

Here is a great way to show Thanks to some of our Military with an outing on your boat for a day go to http://www.boasty.org/ and sign up here is an article on it.
:thumbsup:

Say Thanks To Our Troops

Give back with your boat.
By Pete Mcdonald

Enlarge Photo


Hundreds of thousands of men and women have served in our country's armed forces. For those of us who've always wanted to say thank you but weren't exactly sure how, Branden deBuhr has your answer. Take a soldier out for a day on your boat. deBuhr, who served in the army during the first Gulf War (1990 to 1991), became moved while reading a thread on the Bayliner Owner's Club Forum. In it one member described the gifts of gratitude bestowed upon his daughter in recognition of her military service. From free coffee to first-class airline upgrades, people just wanted to say thanks. deBuhr and others on the forum did too--with their boats.The result is Boaters of America Say Thank You (www.boasty.org). Boasty aims to enlist regular boaters to take soldiers and veterans out on the water for a day. The service starts on Memorial Day and runs every weekend through Labor Day. Interested in saying thanks? Go to the Web site to find out how to donate time or register your boat.

 

[mwph]

I signed up for this last year. I got a call immediately (while still @ my machine) from the guy. Then nothing. I'll go back & check on it. I also signed up for a similar local project....No response. Maybe a 1/2 day on a 250 isn't all that desireable.

 

[Daddubo]

I signed up for this last year. I got a call immediately (while still @ my machine) from the guy. Then nothing. I'll go back & check on it. I also signed up for a similar local project....No response. Maybe a 1/2 day on a 250 isn't all that desireable.

Well all we can do is try. I took things in my own hands when my son went to Afghanistan I asked him to find what was needed on his base and spread the word through friends and family, he has gotten over 100 boxes to distribute to his men. If you want to try some thing else go to the Any Airman site and they will set you up or you can send them money and they will send the care boxes and they take no money for themselves. There are also links there for the Army, Navy and Marines. I have a thread here on it http://clubsearay.com/forum/showthread.php?t=26536

 

[mwph]

I too took a lead from your earlier posting for anyairman.com. A couple of friends of mine, one of them retired Air Force, were aware of this program and it works GREAT. Thanks Daddubo for keeping up the support.

 

[Daddubo]

I signed up for this last year. I got a call immediately (while still @ my machine) from the guy. Then nothing. I'll go back & check on it. I also signed up for a similar local project....No response. Maybe a 1/2 day on a 250 isn't all that desireable.

Mwph read this might be an Idea for you., I got this off the BOASTY sight .

How to get Guests to sign up.....
I purchased a new 21' Party Barge this year and was surfing the web looking for ANY information regarding pontoon boats, boating supplies, etc. I happened upon an ad (or article) about BOASTY in (I think) Pontoon and DeckBoat magazine. They had electronic versions of some of their back issues online. I surfed to the BOASTY web site and started reading about it. I liked what I read. I liked it alot! I waited until I knew I had a slip for the season and then signed up. I checked back every day to see if anyone had signed up for a ride....nobody....I went back and read the entire site again to see if I had done somethng wrong. Nope, everything was alright but nobody was signing up.Well that started me thinking,.....I remembered BOASTY was a pretty new endeavour, maybe the word just wasn't getting out all the way down to MY local area.
I drive past a VFW hall every day on my way to and from work. I buy my POW-MIA flag from them because quite frankly, it's the best price around. Mine was tattered from the winter weather so I stopped by to pick up a new one. As I was leaving, all of a sudden, BOASTY popped up in my head. I turned around and asked the gal that had just sold me the flag if I could leave a message for the post commander. She gave me a couple of phone numbers. I called one as soon as I got home and spoke to the Vice-Commander. I asked him if he had heard about BOASTY, he said "no". I knew from reading on the BOASTY site that there had been advertising in publications that the post should have received.
I knew that if I wanted to actually get some vets out on my boat I was going to have to be proactive in the effort. While I had the Vice-Commander on the phone, I briefly explained what BOASTY was all about. He thought it sounded like a real nice thing to do for vets. I asked him if there was any way that I could come and explain to him how to sign up. He replied that there was a post meeting THAT NIGHT and I was more than welcome to make a small presentation at the end of the meeting.
I printed out some pages from the BOASTY web site and made the presentation. All in attendance were pleased to hear about such a program. One of the vets in attendance jumped at the chance.
His story is available on this web site here -> http://www.boasty.org/index.cfm?hot=cp&cpid=1196
note: Our boating trip with Lee was the DAY AFTER he was run off the road. See video in link above.

What was the point of all of this?

Ok, you signed up as a HOST. There is a reason that you signed up. I'm guesing that your reasons and my reasons are pretty much the same. But it's a real bummer if you throw a party and nobody RSVP's. If you have signed up for a date and nobody has signed up as a guest, do yourself a favor and make a few phone calls. Call the local VFW, AMVETS, DAV or Public Affairs office of a local Military Base. Get the word out in your local area. It'll cost you a few phone calls and maybe a few hours of time, maybe.

If you read about Lee, (in the link above) read the newspaper article, and watched the Video, (from the links on that page) you will see why I am so glad that I turned around that afternoon and asked that gal one simple question. I could have just continued walking out instead and I would have never met Lee. Someone I will NEVER forget.

Pick up the phone, you will be glad you did.

Dave (just a host like you) from N.E. Ohio

p.s. Lee has now become a voice supporting BOASTY within the organizations he belongs to. With his help, I am sure I will get to meet many more unforgettable people. I am looking forward to new friendships.

p.s.s. One thing I thought I might mention. Branden, the guy who started this whole thing tries to call vfw posts, army bases health and welfare offices, military personel, recruiting offices, national guard & reserve posts, among anyone else he can find to get the word out to people who want to participate and has done so successfully for a few other boaters, but he still needs our help! He does so much but like I said, on a local level we can do so much more to extend the reach of his message and make it our own! The other thing is he want's us to take ownership of BOASTY in our own areas! There are others just like me across the country who are also taking it to the streets and giving BOASTY a face to face presentation which one man alone just cannot do. So will you help? Just think what another person can do!